Smoking device



Filed May 21, 1937 IN VENTOR. GIUSEPPE 6/PP/c0.

'ITORNEY.

Patented May 16, 1939 UNIT STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to smokers appliances, and more particularly to cigarette holders and pipes adapted to receive filtering elements for removing nicotine and other harmful ingredients from tobacco smoke.

It is well known that tobacco smoke contains nicotine and other substances irritating to the mouth, nose, and throat and to the health of the smoker. Attempts have been made to remedy this situation by the use of filtering or absorbing elements in cigarette holders and pipes, the filtering elements being placed in the path of the tobacco smoke so that the smoke passes through them before reaching the smokers mouth. These devices have been unsatisfactory for various reasons. Most of them fall to remove enough of the nicotine or other harmful ingredients to be of any particular benefit to( the health of the smoker. Those filtering elements which do remove enough nicotine to be of any material benefit have the objectionable characteristic of impairing the fiavor of the smoke because they remove substances which give the smoke its char acteristic flavor.

In addition to the disadvantages set forth above, the prior art devices generally are subject to the further objection that the smoker must provide himself with special renewal cartridges or filters to replace the used ones whose efiiciency has become impaired or destroyed through use. Because of the inconvenience of keeping a supply of filters on hand, the user is likely to find himself without a new filter when he requires one.

To overcome some of these disadvantages, it has been proposed to use a cigarette as a filtering element for pipes and cigarette holders, the smoke from the burning tobacco being drawn through a separate cigarette held in the stem of the pipe or cigarette holder. Such a filter is successful in removing substantial amounts of nicotine and other harmful ingredients from tobacco smoke. However, in a comparatively short time, the cigarette becomes saturated with nicotine, impurities, and moisture from the smoke drawn through it, even to the extent that smoke can no longer be drawn through it. Consequently, the cigarette must be replaced with another quite frequently, thus causing considerable inconvenience, as well as expense.

To reduce these disadvantages, it has also been proposed to use two or more cigarettes arranged end to end in the stem of a cigarette holder or pipe, but here, too, there are certain objections. For instance, the cigarette nearest the burning tobacco becomes clogged more quickly, so that it is either necessary to take the trouble to replace the filtering cigarettes separately, or to waste part of the effectiveness of the ones which are not saturated at the time the one adjacent the burning tobacco must be replaced. Furthermore, the stem of the holder or pipe must be made so long to accommodate the cigarettes which act as filters that the holder or pipe does not fit conveniently into the pocket of the user.

It is an object of my invention to provide a cigarette holder or pipe in which a plurality of cigarettes arranged in parallel relationship are used as filtering elements.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a cigarette holder of convenient length incorporating a plurality of cigarettes as filter elements in such fashion that all become saturated at substantially the same time, insuring that the full filtering capacity of all of the cigarettes will be utilized. It is a further object of my invention to provide a cigarette holder or pipe stem in which there are a plurality of parallel smoke passages adapted to receive filtering elements.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and claims and from the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cigarette holder embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a cigarette holder shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the cigarette holder;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line IV--IV of Fig. 2 and showing cigarettes in place in the filter chamber;

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken as indicated on the line V-V of Fig. 4, with the filtering cigarettes removed;

Fig. 6 is an exploded plan view of the holder shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a pipe bowl in place of a socket for holding a cigarette.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive of the drawing, there is shown a cigarette holder consisting of a mouthpiece l, a filter chamber 2 comprising a section a and a section b, both of which are hollow, and a socket 3 for supporting a ber 2 by a threaded coupling 4. Sections (1 and b are separable and are designed to be joined by a slip fit, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, though other convenient means of joining the sections may be used. Section a. is divided into two parallel compartments 5 and 6 by a partition I, and section b is likewise divided into corresponding compartments 5' and 6 by a partition 1'. When sections at and b are joined together, the two pairs of compartments are designed to be in alignment with each other, compartments 5' and 6 thus acting as continuations of compartments 5 and 6, providing containers for cigarettes 8 and 9, which serve as filter elements.

Shoulders l0 and II are provided in sections a and b to act as stops for the cigarettes 8 and 8. Partition 1 terminates at the line of shoulder I0, and partition I terminates at the line of shoulder H, permitting compartments 5 and 8 to unite to form chamber [2 and compartments 5' and 6 to unite to form chamber [3. An aperture 14 in the coupling 4 extends between the mouthpiece I and the chamber [2, and socket 3 forms a continuation of chamber I3. Sockets #5 are formed by a flared portion of partition I and the inner wall of section a to receive the tips of cigarettes 8 and 9, and the said tips fit snugly in the sockets so that all of the smoke must be drawn through the filters before it enters the mouthpiece.

In Fig. '7 there is shown a pipe bowl 3' at the end of sectionb instead of the socket 3 shown in the other figures, and a chamber l3 communicates with the pipe bowl 3 whereby smoke enters the filter chamber. The mouthpiece and section a may be used interchangeably with a section I) provided with a pipe bowl or a socket for holding a cigarette, It will be understood that a socket suitable for holding a cigar may also be used.

In using the cigarette holder or pipe described above, a cigarette is placed in each of the compartments in one of the sections of the filter chamber, preferably those in section a, after which the other section is pushed into place over the cigarettes which enter the compartments in that section. The device is then ready for use.

It will be seen that compartments 5 and 6 and 5' and 6 cooperate to form two passages, through either of which smoke drawn through the holder or pipe stem must pass before it reaches the mouthpiece. The passages are so arranged with respect to the chamber l3 or I 3' that substantially the same amount of smoke passes through each of the filter elements; that is, one-half of the smoke is filtered by one cigarette, and one-half by the other. Consequently, both become saturated with nicotine, moisture, and impurities from the smoke at approximately the same time, with the result that both can be discarded at the same time without wasting any material part of the filtering capacity of either of them.

It will readily be seen that the cigarettes used as filters can easily be removed from the filter chamber without difficulty by merely separating the two sections of the chamber and Withdrawing them from the compartments. This may be done by hand, or, if it is desired to avoid contact with the soggy saturated cigarette, a pencil or other suitable implement may be used to extract them from their compartments.

In the above description, I have stated that cigarettes are used as the filter elements. However, it will be appreciated that other types of filter elements may be used without departing from the spirit of my invention. Various other modifications may also be made in the structure described above which are within the contemplation of the invention. For instance, the sockets 15 may be at either end of the filter chamber. Likewise, one of the partitions 7 or T may be omitted entirely, and the other may be merely long enough to act as part of the socket !5. Also, more than two smoke passages and filter elements may be used, if desired.

In addition to being compact and convenient to use, cigarette holders and pipes constructed in accordance with my invention possess a number of other advantages over those of the prior art. The smoke passes through the filter chamber at a lower velocity than in devices having a narrow filter chamber, with the result that more effective absorption of the undesirable materials is obtained. Furthermore, the filter elements need not be changed frequently, and yet an effective filtering efiect is obtained at all times.

I claim:

1. A smokers appliance comprising a filter chamber disposed between and in communication with a means for supporting tobacco in form for smoking and a mouthpiece, said filter chamber being provided with a plurality of substantially parallel imperforate smoke passages in communication with the mouthpiece and tobacco-supporting means, said smoke passages having their longitudinal axes disposed in a horizontal plane coplanar with the major axis of the tobacco-supporting means and mouthpiece in normal smoking position, a separable joint in said filter chamber between the ends thereof, said joint incorporating substantially fiat, telescopically engaged surfaces providing positive horizontal co-planar alignment of the axes of the smoke passages and major axis of the appliance.

2. A smokers appliance comprising a filter chamber between and in communication with a means for supporting tobacco in form for smoking adjacent one end of the filter chamber and a mouth portion adjacent the opposite end of the filter chamber, said chamber being provided with a plurality of substantially parallel imperforate smoke passages in communication with the mouth portion and tobacco-supporting means, said smoke passages having their longitudinal axes disposed in a horizontal plane coplanar with a common axis of the tobacco-supporting means and mouth portion in normal smoking position, a separable joint between said tobacco-supporting means and mouth portion, said joint incorporating substantially fiat, telescopically engaged surfaces providing positive co-planar alignment 7 of the axes of the smoke passages and common axis of the appliance.

3. A smoking device comprising a filter chamber having a means for supporting tobacco in form for smoking at one end thereof and a mouth portion at the other end thereof, said filter chamber being provided with a plurality of imperforate parallel smoke passages disposed in lateral side-by-side relationship with respect to the tobacco-supporting means and mouth portion in normal smoking position, a separable joint between said tobacco-supporting means and mouth portion, said joint incorporating substantially fiat, telescopically engaged surfaces providing positive retention and maintenance of the relationship of the smoke passages with respect to the tobacco-supporting means and mouth portion.

GIUSEPPE CIPPICO. 

